Nashville hot chicken tacos served on lettuce cups with a cool sour cream sauce to brighten up an otherwise heavy local favorite.

No visit to Music City is complete without hot chicken, THE quintessential Nashville dish. Heavily spiced chicken is fried to perfection and served on sliced white bread with a pickle on top. It is not buffalo chicken. The spice and flavor come from a unique blend of spices in the breading and not a wet sauce. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and a little addicting!

Prince’s hot chicken is where it all began…

As the story goes, over 80 years ago, Thorton Prince’s wife created this uber-spicy dish as revenge. Her plan backfired, because he loved it so much that it became a beloved family recipe. Many years later, Prince’s Hot Chicken was born, the first hot chicken restaurant in Nashville. These days, there is no shortage of hot chicken restaurants and dishes around town. In fact, it’s become so popular that you can find in on menus all over the U.S.

I only eat hot chicken a few times a year, and I want the best when I do, which means I head straight to Prince’s. Hot chicken comes in several different heat levels ranging from mild to XXX hot. I’m a total wimp and can only handle the mild. My first hot chicken experience was not a good one and I’m pretty sure my mouth was numb the rest of the day. Lesson learned. But I do like just a little spice and love making these hot chicken lettuce tacos to lighten up the dish, especially in the summer when the heat index is well above 100 degrees.

Serving the chicken on Bibb lettuce, along with a cool, creamy sauce and fresh herbs, transforms an otherwise heavy dish into something light and delicious.

Sutter Home’s Sweet Red wine is the perfect refreshment to serve with hot chicken tacos. The chilled, sweet wine helped balance out the spiciness of the dish and hit the spot on a hot, summer day. You can never go wrong with sweet and spicy!

Sutter Home is one of the largest independent, family-run wineries in the United States. They created the very first White Zinfandel, introducing a new, sweeter style of wine at an affordable price.

How to make hot chicken tacos:

To make these tacos, I picked up some Prince’s hot chicken tenders. Again, why mess with perfection. Plus, who wants to spend time in the kitchen frying chicken when it’s 95 degrees out? Not me.

If you can’t get your hands on hot chicken, any breaded chicken tender will do, and you can spice it up with your favorite hot sauce. If you want to fry up some tenders yourself, this seasoning would work perfectly. Hot chicken is often served with ranch on the side, so I whipped up a quick sauce using bottled ranch dressing (Trader’s Joe’s organic is my favorite), full-fat sour cream, a pinch of pepper, and some pickle juice. Yes. You read that right, and you’ll just have to trust me. It’s delicious. Plus, hot chicken is almost always served with pickles.

In my opinion, Bibb lettuce works best for lettuce tacos, but it can be hard to find. The smaller, individual romaine leaves work well too. You can use regular tortillas if that’s what you prefer. My granddaughter just picked up one of these lettuce wrap tacos and put it inside a tortilla!

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Nashville Hot Chicken Tacos

Plain Everything Recipe Index

My Nashville hot chicken tacos are served on lettuce cups with a cool sour cream ranch sauce, purple cabbage, and herbs to brighten up an otherwise heavy local favorite!

Prep Time 15

Servings

Print Recipe

Ingredients

6 hot chicken tenders *see note
12 pieces Bibb lettuce *see note
1/4 cup of your favorite bottled ranch dressing
1/2 full-fat sour cream
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1-2 tablespoons pickle juice
Garnish: sliced green onions, thinly shredded purple cabbage, and fresh Italian parsley.

Instructions

For the sauce, whisk together the sour cream, ranch, pepper, and one tablespoon of the pickle juice. Taste and adjust the pickle juice. Add more if you like, just be careful not to make the sauce too thin.
Wash and dry 12 Bibb lettuce cups and stack two together to make six tacos.
Sprinkle some purple cabbage on the bottom of each taco and place a chicken tender on top.
Drizzle each taco with some sauce and garnish with a generous sprinkling of parsley and green onions.

Notes

In my opinion, Bibb lettuce works best for lettuce tacos, but it can be hard to find. The smaller, individual romaine leaves work well too.

If you can't get your hands on hot chicken, any breaded chicken tender will do, and you can spice it up with your favorite hot sauce. If you want to fry up some tenders yourself, this seasoning will work perfectly.